Experience new things, chant differently!
by Manshiro
Summary: A powerful familiar you want? A powerful familiar you get. You just have to ask the right way. Rated T because I probably won't describe the bad I things I might do to people.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Revised as of 12.02.2015 because I played ToX2 since the last chapter which resulted in a costume change.

* * *

Chapter 1

The gentle light of the rising sun, falling through the window illuminated her small figure atop the desk littered with books and papers. Her flowing pink hair laying messily in between, the youngest daughter of the noble family de La Vallière, encouraged by the gentle caressing of the sunlight, began to rise from her sleep.

Still wearing the uniform of the Tristain Magical Academy minus the cape, Lousie Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, descendant of an old and proud family of nobles while being completely inept at any magic she tried so far, had fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep after revising her incantation for the springtime summoning ritual. The previous evening, the insufferable Zerbst had taunted her into declaring that she would summon something amazing like a manticore, griffon or dragon and now she would have to live up to it or embarrass herself and by extension her family.

Well more than she already would if her attempt ended with nothing but an explosion, as was usually the case when she tried to use magic.

To prevent such a disgrace, the young girl had decided to change the aria she would use in her attempted summoning in hopes of raising her chances of bringing forth a Familiar worthy of her status, or anything besides an explosion at the very least.

Her original drafts had included terms that she considered rather unsavory in hindsight. Which proud, noble and strong creature would react well to being called slave or servant? So she had changed that into companion instead. The parts about her Familiar being powerful, divine, and beautiful she left as they were as they were what she wanted her Familiar to be, or rather needed it to be.

All in all, she had spent the better part of the last night, looking through records of summoned Familiars, what kind of aria their summoner used and what kind of Familiar – species, abilities, and character – turned up. She even went on to look through some books that most would call fiction rather than fact in hopes of composing the best aria she could, whipped on by desperation.

With her still half-asleep form now slowly rising while removing a piece of paper that had stuck to her face, Louise's mind gradually started to wake up. Like an undead, she completed her morning rituals without consciously thinking about it. Brushing her long pink hair, cleaning away the grime of the past night alongside the ink that had ended up on her face with a wet towel, and clothing herself took until the first bell of the day, signaling that breakfast would now be available.

When her hand touched the doorknob, the first thought of the day popped up in her mind. A simple thought shared by most people in Halkeginia every morning.

'Founder Brimir, please let this day pass without incident.'

She wished for nothing great, just a small sign that she wasn't a complete failure. Something that would show that she was a noble just like the rest of her peers.

To bad for the pink haired girl, that it was a fact from the point of her birth, that the day she would summon her Familiar would be far from normal.

In the vast, infinite variety of paths that her fate can take, none would yield a "normal" Familiar for her. In some of those paths, she summoned heroes who accomplished or would accomplish many good deeds, in others villains who brought misery to the masses. There even existed some in which her summons called forth things so abnormal that a human mind could never fully comprehend them or some flukes of destiny where her ritual grabbed a completely random, normal teenager from another world.

The truth behind it stays the same for all those worlds. No Familiar summoned by Lousie Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière would be what she expected and hoped for at first.

This amused a certain red-eyed old man a lot and offered him a nigh infinite amount of entertainment, but neither is this old vampire responsible for the mess in this particular world nor is he of relevance for this story, so anything more is better left unspoken, lest his attention fall on this world and twist its fate further than necessary.

One way or another, the Zero, as her fellow students dubbed her, made her way from her quarters to the dining hall without knowing that her prayer would not fall on deaf ears. As they say, ignorance is a blessing, and it would be for the girl, at least until noon.

LINE BREAK HERE

On the courtyard between the main tower of the Tristain Academy of Magic and the tower associated with the element of Void, a group of students clad in black capes and a wide variety of animals, ranging from mundane cats, frogs and birds to more fantastical species like salamanders, bugbears, and even a dragon, could be found. Those were the academy's second year students that had just finished the ritual to summon their Familiar, a noble's second set of eyes and ears that would help them achieve their goals.

Those more or less proud beasts were a status symbol of being a noble as they were a noble's partner, often for life. This meant that the Familiar was something the students used to compare themselves with their peers, boast about and use to further their standing.

A strong, intelligent or generally useful Familiar could raise the opinion others had about them and signify their strength as a mage, while a weak Familiar would cause said opinion to fall. Of course, lineage and money still played the most important part when building connections for the future, but at least now, shortly after the summoning, a good Familiar could open a lower noble many a door.

"Have all of you summoned your Familiars now?" a middle aged man in dark robes, suffering loss of hair on the top of his head asked his students with a gentle but firm voice while adjusting his glasses. The man, professor Colbert, known by the students for his timid nature, held a long wooden staff in one hand and a small book he used to sketch the Familiar runes in the other while letting his eyes wonder over the crowd.

"No, not yet. Miss Vallière still hasn't summoned her Familiar." a redheaded student helpfully answered her teacher's question, the mirth in her voice barely hidden.

The girl in question had tried her best to stay hidden between the other students in hope of delaying the inevitable, but was soon the target of everyone's attention.

Shaking off her hesitation, her posture straightened. With big strides and her head held high, Lousie walked toward her teacher and the empty space used to summon the Familiars. Considering her prior experience with magic, this was nothing but a social execution for the young girl, but her pride and the Rule of Steel wouldn't permit her to run away from it. She would face the challenge, knowing her chances were next to nil with her head held high, for such was the only way a Vallière knew.

Around her, the students started whispering and making bets. What would the girl without talent for magic summon? Would there even be something that would heed her call, or would it end like it always did, with a big bang? Most bet on nothing happening at all while those that counted her explosions as a sign of magic bet on what would turn up. The highest odds were, oddly, on a barrel of black powder.

The pink haired girl simply blocked out the not so hushed whisperings around her and even the odd taunt by her busty arch-nemesis. This was the moment of truth. Sink or swim. Live or die. Her whole life from this point onwards hinged on this one spell.

And she would damn well ignore everything distracting her.

Louise's breath steadied as she began her chant. Similarly the crowd around her fell silent.

LINE BREAK HERE

Beneath a solitary tree, standing on a vast grassy plain, sat a woman, looking no older than at most 25 years, but her age easily having three digits. Surrounding her were five of her closest friends, the four who raised her from the moment of her birth and her sister.

Those five had never changed over the centuries, always displaying the same overblown excitement whenever a new spirit was born, always confirming her, that she had made the right choice.

Her other companions had lived their lives to their fullest and achieved their goals, restoring the balance between humans and spirits while securing the survival of Rieze-Maxia and Elympios. Each one had followed his or her own path and saw them through till the end, leaving this world without regrets.

With the world in balance thanks to replacement of spyrix by spirites and humanity having passed Origin's trial, the woman's responsibilities as Maxwell were now few and she hadn't needed to interfere with the human world in the last six decades, living quietly with the four Great Spirtis and Muzét in the realm of spirits.

But now, something was happening on the evergreen plain they called their home. Something so rare that it piqued the interest of the plain's inhabitants. Someone tried to summon the Lord of Spirits.

"Hear me, my companion that exists somewhere in the entirety of existence!" the female voice reverberated through the plain.

Attempts to summon Maxwell had been sparse throughout history. First of all, the ritual to do so was known only by a handful of people over the ages and necessitated a great deal of power as well as a human sacrifice to work.

But this summoning seemed somehow different.

"My divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful kindred spirit, I, Lousie Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, beseech thee from the depths of my heart, heed my summoning, follow my guidance, and appear before me!"

It was a heartfelt cry for help, a simpleminded wish for some higher might to release the summoner from her suffering, a hope for someone to guard her from all the evils that befall her.

None who had tried to summon her had been this earnest in their wish and with intentions this pure. The call was not specially intended for her which made it reaching the spirit world nothing short of a miracle.

And she is Maxwell. Her task encompasses taking care of both spirit and human alike, so she would heed this call, for a spirit's purpose is equivalent to its life, its existence. As such, there was now doubt in her as she reached out.

Her companions knew what she was about to do without a need for words and disagreeing with their friend and master's wish was the farthest from their minds. They would simply faithfully wait for her to return or for her to summon them to her side if need should arise, after all, Milla would return. They had no doubt about that.

With a nod to her friends, the Lord of Spirit was on her way to walk on the mortal plane once again.

LINE BREAK HERE

The courtyard was silent.

The Zero had just finished her incantation to summon her Familiar, a quite unusual one at that, but there was no sign of her Familiar just yet.

No trembling of the earth, no gale, no particles gathering, nothing.

The silence stretched on for a couple of seconds and the students started murmuring.

Had the Zero at last completely failed to use magic? Even summoning a cockroach would have at least made her magical enough to fit her title of noble just barely, but summoning nothing would put her on the same level as a commoner. An unheard of disgrace that would shame her family for generations to come. If they didn't dispose of her and deny her existence that is.

This made even the students that usually bullied the pink haired girl feel pity for her.

The aged teacher was about to lay a calming hand on the girls shoulder when he was blown backward by a sudden explosion.

Similar to him, most of the assembled students where knocked back by the shock wave that had accompanied the suddenly expanding cloud of white dust. Several of them had landed on their butts where some had unfortunately fell on their Familiars which then started thrashing around from the sudden turn of events. Thankfully, only the smaller Familiars got this agitated and ran around in panic while the bigger ones, like the dragon, stayed comparatively calm.

"*cough* *cough***** Are you trying to kill us, Zero!?" a posh looking blonde in a frilly shirt accused between coughs.

"As expected from the Zero!" shouted a slightly rotund student.

Several other students joined in on the complaining, not noticing that the target of their complains didn't listen to them in the slightest. No, the pink haired girl's attention was focused slowly on the shadow she could make out between the wafts of smoke.

Something was in there, something fairly big by the looks of it, bigger than a dog at least. Maybe her prayers reached the Founder and he granted her a small dragon? But what it was didn't matter for her at the moment.

She had summoned _something. _Her spell hadn't resulted in just an explosion as usually, but had actually accomplished its purpose this time around. It had brought forth her sign of being a noble, her partner, her Familiar, and for now she wouldn't care what it was that was inside that cloud of smoke.

The students, those that weren't still on the ground, and their teacher then noticed that the one who had blasted them didn't pay them any attention judging by her lack of reaction. Following her line of sight, they saw what had made the girl ignore their jeers. There was something inside the cloud that slowly dissolved, which meant that the Zero had actually succeeded in her attempt to summon something.

A tense silence fell upon the courtyard as everyone present waited for the last wafts of gray dust to be blown away by the slight breeze blowing today. What would it be, being summoned by the Zero? Was it still alive after being exploded? Would it attack? Who won the pot?

The silence was broken by a surprisingly human cough.

"This was a rougher summon than the last one. *cough* Now I have a good excuse not to answer any." a deep female voice spoke from inside the cloud.

With a sudden gale flowing through the court, the dust was blown away, revealing a beautiful young woman in clothing that made many of the male students have problems with the tightness of their pants. A very short, black rimmed white skirt, barely reaching the upper end of her thighs, a slit at the left side, going all the way, giving a hint of what's beneath. Detailed gold embroidery on deep black background completed the appeal by drawing attention to it. Slender legs stretch from beneath, showing of pink, flawless skin before being concealed again by knee-high boots with the upper part made of two ribbons. Connecting the boots with two strips of cloth coming from the skirt is a metal ring on each leg.

Her top was a form-fitting, if it could be considered such. It consisted of white cloth accentuated with blue around the shoulders and breast, and a black, overlapping scale pattern on her sides. The top seamlessly flowed into similarly styled gloves without any obviously discernible border between.

Long hair flowed behind the woman, starting as a light brown but turning into a brilliant gold as it neared the tips with a single lock of ephemeral green hair standing off horizontally. Her eyes were a light shade of red, lighter than rubies but darker than pink. Mirth and overflowing energy were shining in those two orbs as she turned towards the crowd before her.

The students and their teacher watched in stunned silence, the latter having switched the grip on his staff to a combat ready stance, as the woman let her gaze wander through the crowd, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

Her eyes came to a stop when they fell onto the pink haired girl standing slightly in front of the crowd. The girl's face was filled with a look of disbelief and shock.

Taking a few steps toward her summoner, the woman began to speak up, a friendly smile on her lips.

"Rejoice girl, for your call has been heard. I, Milla Maxwell, Lord of Spirits, have answered your summons and appeared. What is your wish?"

INSERT LINE HERE

'A human...'

'A human and a commoner at that. No way, someone with less modesty than Zerbreast can be a noble, they are supposed to be the pinnacle of immorality among nobles!' Louise thought.

Her brain was running a mile a minute, unable to come up with any reasonable answers concerning her apparent familiar. What elemental affiliation of the summoner does a commoner indicate? What virtues? What did summoning something unheard of mean for herself? Her future?

In her mind it all added up to the one thing that had become a default for things concerning magic and herself: absolute failure.

She turned around to her teacher, ignoring the inquiring look of the 'familiar' in front of her. With a pleading look in her eyes she crushed what was left of her shattered pride and begged for a second chance.

"Mister Colbert, can I please try again? This time I'll summon a proper familiar."

The almost bald man loosened his stance slightly after being spoken to by his student. Seeing that the summoned being didn't mean harm thus far and seemed neutral at least helped a great deal in easing his tension. Gathering his thoughts and straightening his robe slightly he answered his problem student.

"No, Miss Vallière, the springtime summoning ritual is a sacred ritual since the times of the Founder Brimir. Redoing it simply because you didn't like the outcome would be close to heresy and would certainly be enough reason for an expulsion. Now would you please proceed to bind your familiar?"

Colbert knew that forcing the girl to proceed might be cruel towards her, but he could still feel when he was in the presence of a person used to wielding power, literally as well as figuratively, and this young woman certainly had more than enough of the former.

While he wasn't capable of magically measuring any person he lays his eyes on, he had become quite good at judging the character of people thanks to his many years as a teacher and as a soldier.

Being thrown in a probably unfamiliar setting, staring down several nobles and making ridiculous claims while exuding an aura of utter confidence in herself. You could only do that if you were either crazy or sure that you could take everything thrown at you and then some. The only other woman that he would attribute the same kind of confidence to was Karin the Heavy Wind, and she could mop the floor with him in his prime.

He didn't want to know how far the woman in front of him measured up to one of Tristain's heroes, so letting the girl bind her would be the best choice, given that a battle with the students in the line of fire was the alternative.

"But-" the girl in front of him tried.

"No buts, Miss Vallière. You will uphold six thousand years of tradition. Now, please bind your familiar."

His polite but firm order and his stern look made the girl accept that she would have to bind her new 'familiar', whether she wanted to or not. Reluctantly, the youngest daughter of the duke de La Vallière turned around and walked towards the young woman that had appeared inside her explosion.

Neither student nor teacher had noticed the amused smirk the subject of their conversation wore while they talked.

INSERT LINE HERE

Meanwhile, the audience had started firing off one wild speculation after another. Many possibilities about the young woman were discussed. Guesses ranged from her being a commoner hired to stand in for a real familiar, to her being a mystic creature from obscure scriptures called succubus which would now go on to "feast" on all the poor students. The latter was, of course, shared in hushed whispers by a couple of boys with goofy expressions on their faces.

A little bit apart from the other students, a busty redhead turned to her blue haired and significantly shorter companion.

"What do you think Tabitha?"

Tabitha nodded slightly in acknowledgment of the question before returning her issue of _Romance in Castle Rochelle_ to her customary position of burying her nose in it.

"Strange... and dangerous."

Kirche was perplexed that her diminutive friend went as far as to use a conjunction to describe Louise's familiar and almost missed the slight nudge of the blue haired girl's staff towards her own familiar.

A wonderful familiar, Kirche had to admit. A blue wind dragon large enough to ride it, doing the small Gallian's ability with wind based magic justice.

This supposedly majestic creature of the sky that shouldn't need to fear anything bar its own kin and other dragons was right now staring at the young woman that had been summoned. The big reptile stood with slightly bent limbs as if preparing to jump, nostrils flaring and eyes darting between the newcomer and her master, appearing to debate whether to fight or to flee.

"What..." the redhead wondered.

"Unknown. Maybe not human." Tabitha answered.

"You don't mean...? She doesn't have pointy ears..."

"Uncertain." she paused. "Probably strong. Worried."

"Don't worry. Even as passionate as my flame burns, I'm not foolish enough to face a rainstorm." Kirche assured her companion. A hotblooded Germanian she might be, but duking it out with what could be a firstborn was near the top of her don't-do-list. After all, she valued her life highly. How could you enjoy all of the world's wonders if you were dead?

'No choice but to wait and observe. It doesn't seem like she wants to do anything to Louise or anyone of us, so I'll just wait and see how this plays out.'

Tabitha couldn't stay as calm as her busty friend. Oh, outwardly she was still perfectly stoic, but inside she panicked.

What was that woman that could frighten her Sylphid, an admittedly young, but still powerful rhyme dragon? Some species of firstborn unknown to man till now? An elf without pointy ears?

The possibilities were too many to consider all of them and most were not favorable for her or the general populace.

'Wait and prepare.' were her thoughts on the matter. She'd have to ask Irwukuku first thing when they were alone why she was so nervous around the woman.

INSERT LINE HERE

Coming to a stop in front of the commoner she summoned, Louise huffed once before pointing her wand at her. With a glare at the inquisitive look on her familiar's face, she started chanting the words of binding.

"Oh Pentagon of the Elements, in the name of our Founder Brimir, bless this being and make it my familiar!"

With a wide swish of her wand, ending in a pointing movement at the woman's face, Louise finished the 'easy' part of Contract Servant. With much more reluctance, she closed in to her familiar and signaled her to bow down, annoyed with the still curious look on the woman's face.

"Be grateful that I'm doing this! Normally a noble would never do something like this to a commoner!" she shouted before pressing her lips onto the blonde's with so much speed it was only millimeters away from turning into a headbutt.

Unknown to her, her petite body and doll like appearance was quite well liked by many of the students. As such, the picture of the small but cute de La Vallière and the mysterious woman kissing wouldn't be letting some of the present males sleep that night thanks to their (un)healthy fantasizing.

"Strange." the now bound familiar began, "judging from your call, you sought a companion to shield you, not one to bed you. I don't think I am suited for that kind of actions. Maybe a misunderstanding?" she asked, putting her right hand to her hip while trailing her left pointing finger along her lips.

Many jaws in the crowd dropped at the serious delivery of such an immodest view of the master-familiar relationship, making their heads call up puberty induced images of themselves with their familiars in more... intimate situations.

The pink-haired girl in question didn't even register the meaning of what her new familiar had said for a couple of moments. When realization set in, she blushed so hard in anger and embarrassment that her face glowed a deeper shade of red than her hair.

"Y-y-you stupid familiar!" she shouted. "There's no way I would want to do... _that_ with you!"

After a short standoff between Louise and the woman, the former glaring at the latter while the latter only had a look of innocent confusion mixed with curiosity on her face, the familiar came to a conclusion.

The crowd meanwhile had broken into chatter about the Zero's newest accomplishment or were cheering both females on to continue. The later comments were soon rewarded with dark looks by the female populace, and a couple of confused ones where the cheering party had been female themselves.

"Then kissing is just a greeting here? Good to know." the blonde answered in a serious but friendly tone.

"That's not it! Don't get me in trouble for kissing random people, familiar!" her master shot down the horror visions of what was magically and legally an extension of herself, going around and kissing everyone she met, before they could turn into reality.

"Then why did you do it?" she asked innocently while adapting a thinking pose with one finger touching her forehead which was scrunched up in concentration. After a moment the woman hit the palm of her hand with her fist in a gesture of enlightenment. "So my appearance proves to be effective on some females too, interesting."

"What are you... argh!" the pink haired girl threw her hands up in frustration as her new familiar proved to be not only a useless and stupid commoner but also at least as debauched as the damned Zerbst. She stomped off towards the dormitory without caring what happened behind her. There was only so much the Rule of Steel ingrained in her could handle before her temper exploded figuratively and something else exploded literally.

Her new familiar just followed her summoner faithfully while looking around the court curiously. The rest of the class then proceeded to dissolve by flying away to their respective rooms and Colbert made his way towards his office to transcript the familiar runes, not noticing that he had forgotten to get a certain set of runes.

* * *

AN: A fic written over the Christmas holidays that didn't get published until now since I wanted to publish the next chapter of another story first.

I will continue this sporadically if the feedback indicates that some people want to read this, but the fic I'm going to put the most effort into for the time being will be my other story Cycle of Hate (end of shameless self-plug). So if you would like me to continue this please show it in the form of reviews and/or favs.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hmm. An update rate of once per year is kind of stupid, but at least it isn't dead, right?

Update 5th January 2016: *looks at line just above this one* *cough* Umm. I'm working on the next one? In the meanwhile I can maybe bring some entertainment with an updated version of this chapter with a bit more content which now makes it end at a more satisfying point.

Chapter 2

The wooden door smashed against the stone wall with much more force than one might image the girl who had opened it possess. Without turning around once the pink-haired girl stomped right up to her sizable bed and threw herself face first on top of it without regard to the dishevelment this act would undoubtedly cause. As soon as her face had been buried between the sheets wails of despair started to fill the room.

Thankfully, the woman that had been following the girl had closed the door the young mage had brutally opened, so any sound escaping the room bar shouting would be muffled by the thick walls.

Minutes ticked away with the older of the two staring at the picture of misery displayed before her while the young girl cursed her fate and poured out some of the frustration inside her heart.

Half an hourglass later, the bedsheets shuffled around so that their inhabitant could get a closer look at the other occupant of the room.

Getting the first clear view of her new familiar after storming from the field where she had summoned the woman, only now being a little bit calmer, Louise had the feeling, that somehow her earlier impressions of her familiar had been wrong.

She had at first only seen that she had summoned a person and of course deduced that it had to be commoner. After all, a familiar is always suited to its master, especially to the master's magic. And what kind of being with human shape would be fitting for her? A magic-less commoner of course. Her own experience with magic had only allowed this one conclusion, since no matter how great her theoretical understanding of magic was, she was a failure at magic. Something without the slightest shred of hope of ever being able to work magic was a perfect match for her.

But the more she stared at the strangely clad woman through her puffy, red eyes, the less that train of thought seemed to hold against her observations.

First of all, the woman's clothing seemed to be far too well made to be possessed by a poor commoner. Only nobles or rich merchants could buy garbs with such fine embroidery, even excluding the fact that the embroidery seemed to have been done with golden thread.

Another thing was her demeanor. She showed none of the usual subservient behavior of commoner, and neither had she fidgeted in the least even when under the scrutiny of all her classmates. But she also hadn't changed the way she acted even after they were all alone. Neither trying to make herself bigger or smaller. Not caring whether people are around or not. Even torturing her brain for an answer didn't find her a solution to what made the woman in front of her tick.

The woman that was still watching her with a slightly amused smile. Something in that friendly expression made her feel as if she should be somewhat insulted, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Louise sighed once again from her spot on top of her bed.

'Now that she's here, I should make the best of it. Because even if the other may protest at first, she's without a doubt my famili-'

"-ar" The end of her thought slipped out of her mouth as her train of thought was brutally derailed by something she had forgotten in the chaos that was her summoning. "The runes." the pink haired girl muttered while searching the visible skin of her familiar for the sacred runes.

A dark feeling crept up into Louise's throat with each passing second, bringing the worst possibilities to the front of her mind instantly. With an almost haunted voice, she asked the blonde woman:

"Familiar, where are your runes."

The pathetic voice she had used made Louise want to hit herself even as she noticed that she had forgotten the name her familiar had initially introduced herself by.

"Runes?" her opponent asked while folding her arms in thought. "You have to be a little bit more precise with that, Louise."

Great, she was the only one of them who couldn't call the other by name. Another failure in her long list. And this time completely without her magic playing a role in it.

Starting with a bit more fire in her voice and louder than she would have liked Louise specified: "The runes that should have inscribed themselves somewhere on your body after I... kissed you..." Her voice broke after she got to the point where she had to recall the embarrassing act she had to perform earlier, but this was not the time for shame. "That was a spell that should have branded you as my familiar."

Her familiar seemed to have come to a conclusion with this new information as she performed the same gesture as earlier when she had implied uncouth things.

"So that is what the lesser spirits during that ritual were supposed to. They were apparently quite confused with trying to work on a similar spirit so I had stopped them as a precaution."

Louise froze. A few seconds passed like an eternity, before could she stutter her reply.

"Spirits? You stopped them?"

"Yes, the poor things were quite distraught without knowing what to do. Since similarly to me, they seemed to receive a supply of mana from you I told them to stop and wanted to bring this up with you. Now that I know what they should be doing, directing them to do their job accordingly should be no problem."

Without leaving her master the time or an opportunity to interject, not that she could have considering she was still somehow stunned by what her familiar was saying, the woman closed her eyes in concentration. Shortly afterwards a faint glow shone through one of her gloves.

Swiftly removing the glove just enough to reveal a set of strange letters, the woman showed Louise the freshly inscribed runes on the back of her hand.

"Does this suffice?"

When she received no answer, the blonde asked the pink haired girl:

"Is everything alright Louise?"

'She made the familiar runes appear on her command! She first stopped them from appearing and now she made them appear and she sounded as if the spell had something to do with spirits and then called herself one andifthatisrightthenshecancontrolspiritsandifthatistruethen-'

Scrapping together what was left of rational thought inside her head, the addressed girl could only barely formulate a question.

"Wh... What are you?"

The woman in front of her pushed out her chest as she announced herself once again. Standing tall and proud she etched herself into her masters memories as she spoke:

"As I said before, I am Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits." To complete her introduction she let a glowing orb appear in each of her hands which then spiraled upwards before popping into nothingness.

Unable to keep up with the facts before her and all the stress that had accumulated over the day, the little mage's mind shut down and left her surrounded by the calming dark of unconsciousness.

* * *

"That was unexpected...

I didn't know that my introduction was so awe inspiring that my listeners could faint. Does that make it unsuitable as an introduction?"

Milla was only mildly confused by her summoner's fainting. She was used to somewhat extreme reactions of disbelief when she revealed herself.

After shortly mulling over her approach to giving her identity to other people, the Lord of Spirits decided, that sleeping in the half-sitting, half-sideways-laying position her summoner was in would result in uncomfortable cramps the next day, and she would do Louise the favor of sparing her that experience.

Swiftly derobing the small girl, Milla placed her softly on the bed and covered her with the sheets the girl had earlier cocooned herself in.

Standing in front of the fancy bed which held her summoner, the inheritor of the Maxwell title saw herself faced with a problem.

"What am I supposed to do with myself now?"

Sleep would have been a possibility, but neither did a spirit like her need sleep when she was supplied with plenty of mana, as she was right now. She could hold vigil at Louise's bedside, but the place they were currently at seemed to be safe enough and, to be honest, doing so would be boring.

Fighting against boredom alone would be hard enough, but the impulse to go exploring what must have been foreign lands was rearing its head.

Surpassing Aifread had been one of the achievements she was proud of and any new land she explored would only widen the gap that would entice people to strive to surpass it. And only a scant few things surpassed the joy she finds in watching people, human and spirit alike, growing and breaking the limits of what they think is possible.

Come to think of it, she could combine exploring with one of those scant few things as a purpose for this night:

Find the kitchen.

How long had it been since she last ate real food? Too long in her opinion. But that could be rectified in short order.

Without further ado, the heroic Milla Maxwell silently sneaked out of the room, careful not to wake her summoner, for the most sacred task of stuffing herself with whatever local delicacies she could get.

* * *

As she wandered through the cold stone corridors, only sparsely lit by the torches on the wall, the Lord of Spirits let her mind wander since she didn't know the way towards the kitchen.

"The architecture really is different than anything on either Rieze-Maxia or Elympios. It somehow reminds me of Kanbalar. Strong buildings made to weather ice and storm...

...I wonder if it gets as cold here as it does in Kanbalar in winter?

But then again, the style is somehow different. Being in Gaius' castle always felt like you were in tent. The tent of an important person, but nonetheless a tent. Warmed by fire and shared with friends.

This castle feels more... restrictive? Maybe because this is some sort of educational institution? The children in the court sure looked like it."

Going down a flight of stairs she had earlier climbed when she had followed Louise to her room, Milla heard two voices from around the corner. One was a young girl's, the other a boy's. As she turned around the corner she could see the two students.

The girl had long brown hair and a cape of the same color. Beneath that she wore the same outfit as Louise which Milla assumed was the uniform of the students. Her hands were clutched before her as she smiled while conversing with the blonde boy.

His outfit differed from what she assumed was the girl version by switching the skirt with pants, and the blouse with a frilly shirt that showed off part of his unimpressive chest. Similar to Louise, the boy wore a violet cape. Maybe the color of your cape showed what you studied?

As she passed the two, the blonde boy gave the rose in his hands to the girl with a pompous gesture. Both seemed to absorbed in what they were doing to notice her slip by. Humans really were interesting in their rituals.

But now that she thought about it, the way he was talking and acting reminded her of one of her old friends. The wannabe Casanova with conflicted loyalties. The Alvin from when they first met.

How will this boy live his life? Will he change himself like Alvin did or will he stay the same and show her where that path ends? Only time will tell.

But now she had a kitchen to find.

* * *

Today had been a good day in Siesta's book.

The second year students had summoned their familiars and were too busy with themselves and each other to bother her or the other staff and the other years had also behaved. Completing her work without being disturbed or getting additional work piled on her was always nice.

And since she had applied to take care of the bigger familiars that had been summoned, the black haired maid was able to weasel herself from serving dinner, further reducing her contact with the impulsive noble youths.

It wasn't as boring as it could have been either. Apparently one of the second years had summoned a human or something that looked like one. In comparison to the usual mundane and magical beats she had already grown somewhat used to, this was something new and exciting. The rumors and speculations about this mysterious familiar made the monotonous task of cleaning late into the night a lot more fun.

She was just dusting a trophy when a hand lightly tapped her shoulder. The involuntary flinch almost caused her to drop the valuable item, but she could catch it just in time.

Turning around to look at who had sneaked up on her while she was deep in thought, the black haired Maid came face to face with a young woman with probably the longest blond hair she had ever seen on a person. Her opponent was so beautiful that she seemed to glow with an inner light.

The clothing made it clear that she was facing a noble, probably a very rich and influential one if the gold was real.

"How may I be of use, milady?" asked Siesta while mentally bracing herself for some ridiculous request that would ruin her nice day.

"Could you tell me how to find the kitchen?"

'The kitchen?' Siesta said, slightly surprised by the question. But then again, a commoner like her wouldn't be able to understand the thought process of a noble, so she answered to the best of her might.

"Of course, milady. I will show you the way." She put down the trophy she was still clutching in her hands, gathered her cleaning supplies and gestured for the noble to follow her.

After walking for about a minute the servant couldn't hold back her natural curiosity any longer.

"Umm, if you were so kind as to excuse me for asking a question, milady, what brings you to the kitchen at this time of the night?"

The blonde made a humming noise Siesta choose to interpret as a sign that she was formulating an answer. And true to that, the noble replied.

"I am quite new to these lands and wanted to examine what delicacies the local cuisine has to offer."

She knew that asking more questions could be taken as a servant meddling with things she had no right to or worse, an insult, but the woman seemed amiable enough and not adverse to light conversation, so the maid decided to push her luck.

"Oh, so you are new to this region of Tristain? I wasn't aware the academy had received a guest from that far away."

"It is unmistakeably true that I have set foot on the land of Tristain for the first time. As far as I have seen it is quite different from my homeland." she nodded.

"For there to be such a big difference you must surely have traveled far. Might inquire as to where you stem from, milady?"

"The land of my descent is called Rieze-Maxia, Nia-Kheria to be exact."

Both names were completely foreign to Siesta and didn't sound like any place in the Brimiric nations so she speculated that maybe the noble before her came from the other side of the Holy Land. The maid wondered what would bring someone from that far away to their academy.

"Could I ask what brings a guest from that far to our humble Tristain Academy of Magic?"

"I don't know if calling me guest would be completely correct considering I will probably intrude upon this place for a while."

"If you aren't a guest, are you perhaps a new instructor?"

"Again not untrue yet only partially accurate. An aegis, defending and nurturing those under its wings would be a better fit." she mused.

'A bodyguard and private instructor from across the Rub Al'Khali?' the maid thought.

But before she could ask the nice noble woman another question they had reached their destination.

The kitchen was adjacent to the main dining hall for the faculty and student body on one side and connected to the storage rooms and the servant quarters on the other.

Normally, numerous pots where hanging over the burning fireplaces, creating much food as to satisfy the students and have enough left over to feed the servants. The nobles were happy with the overabundance they apparently enjoyed and the servants were guaranteed a tasty and nourishing meal. A win-win situation for both sides.

Now though, at this late hour, the kitchen was practically deserted. Less than a handful of staff stayed this late into the night to cater to any requests from mainly the teachers.

This evening the head chef Marteau had taken charge of the kitchen and was coordinating the preparations for the coming morning. Siesta stopped at the doorstep and drew attention to herself with a slight cough.

"Excuse me, Marteau, there is a guest here who wants to see your kitchen."

The robustly-built man turned around from the flour he had taken out of the storage for tomorrows bread and gave Siesta a questioning look before he caught a glimpse of the woman behind her.

His face set into a slight frown, not enough to display open displeasure, but a frown nonetheless. The pompous outfit was a clear sign for him that the person Siesta had brought was a noble, and with nobles more pompous often means more obnoxious and demeaning.

"How can I help you?" Marteau asked with a gruff voice and gestured for the two women to enter the kitchen.

"Louise has fallen asleep, so exploring the local delicacies is what brought me here."

"Louise?" Siesta unconsciously muttered. "Do you by chance refer to the young lady de La Vallière?"

If it was the girl infamous for having no magical talent aside from causing explosions, she could imagine the Vallière using its vast influence and wealth to arrange for a personal instructor from the other end of the world.

Receiving an affirmative nod without further explanation, the maid took it as a sign that the noblewoman didn't want to expand further on the topic.

Marteau then spoke up: "I'm sorry to inform you, that the kitchen is already closed for today, so we can only serve a light meal with bread, cheese and sausage or the cold leftovers from dinner. If you want something better, I would advise you to visit the Alviss Hall at mealtimes."

The chef knew he was toeing the line here, but his kitchen was his castle, he had at least a small measure of worldly power here. But he didn't receive the unhappy look he'd come to expect when acted like this towards nobles.

Rather the opposite even. The blonde appeared to be thankful for his advice although he could see a little bit of disappointment before it vanished and was replaced by a beautiful smile.

"I would have liked to sample as much of the local dishes as possible, but starting slowly might be a good idea. It has been quite a long time since I last ate something, and probably wouldn't be able to appreciate it."

"Uhh...?" That reaction was so far outside the usual in a positive sense that Marteau at first didn't know what he should do, but then decided to just give the woman what she came for. Providing service was his job after all, no matter how often he cursed the noble brats.

"Here, the best I can offer you at the moment,..." the cook looked to the maid how to address the other woman but only received a small rising of her shoulders. "...milady?"

"Oh, how rude of me. I am Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits." she stated with a flourish of her hand.

Both servants suddenly were a lot less cautious around the woman and Siesta could understand why she behaved and talked as unusual as she had done earlier. There sometimes were these cases when a mage was slightly out of touch with reality due to old age or some failed experiment. For the most part it made them somewhat nicer as long as you played along with their fantasies so they were easier to satisfy and be around.

Although it was a pity for such a young lady to already have said farewell to her sanity.

"Well, lady Maxwell, I hope you like it." the cook said as he passed her the plate.

* * *

Marteau was honestly surprised. Most nobles would only eat what few morsels he could produce at this time out of necessity, but this girl seemed to be genuinely happy with the food. He was by no means a master of reading facial expressions, but his experience with food-related ones was not bad. And this Milla Maxwell seemed to be almost ecstatic about eating a simple piece of bread with cheese. Maybe they had locked her away and starved her because she wasn't all there inside her head? He could imagine one of the less friendly noble families do that to such a nice young lady. It made him feel kind of sorry for her.

With a satisfied sigh Milla cleaned her fingers with a napkin and rubbed her filled belly. She then turned to Marteau with a smile on her lips.

"You have done a good job, Marteau. Despite the late hour you have provided a tasty meal. Thank you."

"What would you like to do now, Lady Maxwell?" Siesta asked. Letting a woman of questionable mental health run about on her own at night, especially a nice person like lady Maxwell, could almost be considered cruel. She could accidentally leave the academy and get lost in the nearby woods or one of the more morally corrupted students could try to take advantage of her.

It wasn't explicitly inside the realm of her duties, but Siesta supposed that only doing something if you get paid for it made you somewhat of a bad person.

"I planned to explore this place further until Louise wakes up."

"Would you like me to accompany you? I could show you around." the maid offered. She would take Lady Maxwell to the most important places like the dining hall or the baths and then return her to the room of the young de Vallière.

"You would do that? Lead the way then." the noble said with a smile on her lips while gesturing towards the kitchen's exit.

With Siesta in front, illuminating their path with a lantern, the contrasting pair left for a midnight tour of the castle. More thorough and detailed that she had initially planned, It would be a long time that night before the maid would return to her quarters and find sleep.

* * *

"Louise."

"Munyaa~"

"Louise."

The small bundle of sheets contracted even further, trying to shut out both her voice and the light of the morning sun.

"Louise, wake up."

Milla's voice grew more insistent with each repetition and she now added a finger poking her summoner, or at least whatever was moving beneath the covers.

"Only five minyuts~"

The Lord of Spirits eyed the bed and its inhabitant while debating internally. If they wouldn't leave shortly, they would be late for the time Siesta had told her breakfast started at. But no matter what she was doing, Louise just didn't seem to want to wake up. On the other hand, there was delicious breakfast waiting for them.

Milla nodded to herself, drastic measures would have to be taken.

"Louise, I would advise you to wake up, or..."

Seeing no sign of activity in the younger girl, the blonde gathered a small orb of water in her hand before pulling Louise's covers away enough to expose her head. She had the decency to give the pink haired girl another chance as she poked her in the cheek in a last fruitless attempt before she released her control over the water in her hand. Right above her summoner's head.

The effect she aimed for was immediate as the diminutive mage almost jumped from her bed.

"Wha- Who- Whe-?" the pink haired girl sleepily blinked through wet strands of hair, her mind lagging behind her body in terms of waking up. Her gaze wandered around the room without focusing on anything two times before she recognized her familiar.

"You." her finger pointed at the older woman accusingly.

"Good morning, Louise." her familiar greeted her nonchalantly.

"Why did you splash me with water?" she asked with a tinge of anger in her voice. An unruly familiar that dares to lay its hand on its master would have to be disciplined as the Rule of Steel decreed.

"You didn't wake up, even after several tries and me poking you, so I had to get creative."

"And why did you have to wake me up?" Louise was still not wholly in the realm of the living and distinctly irritated at being ripped from sleep this unceremoniously.

"It is almost time for breakfast and I would be saddened if we were to miss it."

Typical. Of course her familiar would wake her because it was hungry, what else was she supposed to think of an anima-

She froze up when her brain had finally booted up to where it had shut down last night.

Control over the familiar runes.

Apparent knowledge how they worked.

'Lord of Spirits'...

She still couldn't come to terms with her familiars supposed nature, but her actions made outright refuting her strange new companion impossible.

Without a solution to the problem or the motivation to torture her head for one, she would for now do what many people with problems did:

Ignore them.

Wordlessly, Louise began her morning routine, washing and clothing herself while not acknowledging the existence of the other sentient being in the room. If she was a Spirit, then it was like changing in front of a tree and if not, her familiar was at the very least a female. The blonde's body was fairly close to how she'd imagine an angel or a pagan goddess. Almost unearthly.

Sure, Kirche had a more generous bosom, but if you compared the whole ensemble, the Germanian's breasts were overly big, esthetically useless meat. Not in the defensive way Louise herself liked to describe it as such, but as an honest observation of the facts.

Either way, it was no problem to change in front of the strange person she had summoned, although they way Louise was being observed during all her activities made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Not enough to warrant a comment on her side, she was above that, but still felt like she was being judged. Without being judged. If that made any sense whatsoever.

Her familiar just watched her do things everyone did everyday with interest, but Louise couldn't read any judgment from the woman's face or posture. Not about her actions, not about her diminutive build, not about her hopeless inability to cast magic. Nothing.

The strangely clad blond woman just stood patiently in the corner where Louise had placed the straw for her familiar to sleep on last night, observing her while she waited.

The mage could count the persons who looked at her neutrally, without either pity, disdain or ridicule, on one hand. A hand that had had a musket explode in its grip, blowing away a finger or two.

And to be frank it was nice to have someone like that nearby.

Although that would probably change the moment her familiar would catch onto her ineptitude for each and any kind of spell work, leaving her with eyes filled with pity or disdain following her around day and night.

But trying to put it off wouldn't solve the problem. It never did for her. So she only turned halfway around, watching her familiar with on eye and told the other woman to follow her before walking off with a slumped gait.

* * *

The contrasting duo of Milla and Louise walked down the stone corridors that would lead them to the Alviss dining hall, the former with a carefully schooled face, betraying no emotion while the later followed three steps behind, a small smile on her face.

When their destination was only just around the next corner a voice which made Louise cringe internally called out to them.

"Good Morning, Louise." The cheery voice of her redhead nemesis intruded.

"Zerbst..." the young mage acknowledged the busty one.

"How was your first night with your interesting new familiar? Mine was warm and comfy thanks to my wonderful Flame."

Hearing his name spoken, the flame salamander waddled up to his master's side instead of standing behind her, and gave off a deep thrilling sound as it crooned its neck to look at the people his master was talking with.

The reptile's action was reciprocated by the blonde familiar who bowed at the waist to stare directly into the red salamander's eyes. Louise and Kirche stared at the duo perplexed for a moment before the Germanian found her fire again.

"Isn't Flame simply wonderful? Scales this shiny and a brilliant crimson flame like this are only found in salamanders from the Fire Mountains."

The blonde woman turned from the other familiar to face its master with a thoughtful look. "Fire Mountains? That sounds like a place a friend of mine would thoroughly enjoy. We should go visit them sometime, Louise."

The addressed young girl only nodded dumbly in affirmation at the same time wondering what kind of person would enjoy a place with noxious fumes and molten stone as its selling point, and pleasantly surprised at how her nemesis' bragging was ignored. The slightly perplexed look on Kirche's face lightened her mood up quite a bit.

"Well," Milla started "it was nice meeting one of Louise's friends, but we should make haste now. Breakfast is waiting."

Without further ado, she started walking towards the dining hall, Louise following her shortly before overtaking her, as it was only proper for the master to lead the way while the familiar followed. The busty redhead wanted to follow the duo as well but had to hand over her salamander to the caretakers before she could join the student body in consuming a luxurious meal.

* * *

Both, boys and girls stole glances at her familiar as they sat in the last row of the classroom, waiting for their teacher. They ranged from curious to lustful and Louise was slightly mollified that Milla had disappeared earlier when they had entered the dining hall as eating in such an environment would have been less than pleasant. According to the blonde, she had consumed her breakfast in the adjacent kitchens.

Apparently, her familiar had already premeditated this yesterday evening while Louise herself was... indisposed, and seemed to have won the favor of some of the castle's small-folk. If the self-proclaimed Lord of Spirits -Louise was willing to admit that the woman was more than a simple commoner, some strange kind of firstborn maybe, but she seriously doubted any claim of hers to hold domain over literal forces of nature- had she been male, Louise would have worried that there could pop up problems with the beautiful female servants -the appearance obviously played a big part for the commoners hoping to be hired by the headmaster- which would leave her with additional small mouths to feed and, more importantly, a devastating hit to her already abyssal reputation.

But alas her familiar was female so she doubted that this would become much of a problem. There were after all quite a few ways to make the proof of a night shared vanished if one had money or magic. Kirche was the best example she had ever seen of that.

So all in all, she wasn't as irritated with her familiar for abandoning her in the dining hall as she could have been. But now, in the confines of a classroom, the overbearing interest her fellow nobles held for the blond woman sitting next to her was palpable. She could swear that she had even caught Tabitha, the one student that was otherwise totally indifferent to her surroundings, glancing over the rim of her novel.

Normally, the pink haired girl would have been happy for positive attention directed at her (by extension), but it didn't feel like her classmates valued her achievement but were entertaining themselves with her as the jester.

Thankfully, the arrival of a portly, middle aged woman granted her a reprieve of the attention. The mage that had entered introduced herself as Chevreuse and would apparently serve as their teacher for all things concerning magic affiliated with earth which would contain the shaping of earth and its derivatives and to a bigger part the transmutation of matter into another form of matter.

But as the familiar summoning had been the first thing second year students had to accomplish, this class started with a revision of things everybody should already know.

"Who can tell me about the elements that can be influenced by magic?" the teacher asked. In reaction a delicately manicured hand, daintily holding a rose, rose into the air.

"Yes, Mister...?"

"Guiche de Gramont, Miss Chevreuse, the four elements that are the cornerstones of magic are Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. And as fate goes strange ways, my element is the same as yours, Earth. My second name is Guiche the Bronze, pleased to make your acquaintance."

The blonde girl with curled hair next to the flamboyant boy only sighed in resignation at the needlessly elegant and overblown manner of her boyfriend.

"Correct, Mister Gramont. Regardless of the fact that, as your classmate already mentioned, I myself am an earth mage, earth takes a very important, if not the most important, place among the elements as the most productive element.

Wind can only move objects, fire can for the most part only destroy, and water is mostly used to heal preexisting living matter. While all of those are important gifts the Founder bestowed upon us, earth excels by value of being able to create new things far better than the other elements.

This of course is mirrored in one of its main disciplines: Alchemy."

The portly woman produced three small pebbles from the sleeve of her robe and placed them on her desk so all of her students could get a good view. With a swish of her wand and a quick incantation, the pebbles turned from listless and rough gray to a smooth and shiny yellow.

An excitable youngster couldn't suppress his surprise and blurted his thoughts – and those of many of his classmates- out loud: "Is that gold?"

"No, it is only brass. Transmuting gold is something only those few who achieved the rank of square class are capable of with great effort, so it sadly lies outside my realm of abilities as a triangle mage." Chevreuse the Red Clay finished with a cough and a straightening of her back as she casually dropped her sufficiently high rank.

"Now, who wants to try his or her hand at this spell? It is easy enough that even those not affiliated with the earth element should be able to do well enough."

Since the general motivation among the students was as high as usual, which meant nearly nonexistent, the older mage had to pick a volunteer herself. And the form of a girl in the last row that was studiously writing on a piece of parchment seemed a good choice. She would, after all, at least have listened to her explanation if she was scribbling this enthusiastically.

"Could I ask you to demonstrate the spell for you classmates, miss...?"

The diminutive girl rose from her seat before giving her name. "Vallière, Louise de La Vallière, Miss Chevreuse."

With confident steps that had no confidence backing them up, the youngest daughter of the Vallière family walked down the steps towards the teacher's desk where already three new stone pebbles were readied for her demonstration.

Frantic calls for the experience earth mage to stop their classmate from trying to cast were ignored by the robust lady in dark red as she once again explained the spell to Louise. By now, Tabitha had already left the room and the students with some sense had ducked partway underneath their tables.

The wand pointed at the stones with a firm grip, Louise chanted the three words her teacher had told her to.

"Rel Im Yon!"

* * *

The highest room of the highest tower of the Tristain Academy of Magic held the principal's office, the workplace of the wisest mage entrusted with nurturing the new generation of Tristainian nobility, Old Osmond. Only history books and a scant few people still knew him by his full name and of the adventures he had braved in the past, but now, after several decades of work as principal, he was just known as Old Osmond to most.

And while age certainly had many downsides like aching bones or short breath, it also offered wisdom and certain other advantages.

The resounding clack of a heel had missed his companion of years by a scant few centimeters before Old Osmond's familiar could escape the burst of female fury by retreating to his master's side.

"What do you say, Motosogonir? Again white? I'm certain black would suit our lovely Miss Longueville much better."

A dark aura crept up behind the bearded man as a chillingly cold voice spoke up.

"Old Osmond, I told you that I'd bring it up with the court if you won't stop."

With a surprising amount of agility the old man turned around and expelled a shout of "Kaa!" in attempt of intimidation.

"Don't make a fuss because your underwear was seen! It's because you're stiff like that, that you will end as an old maid!"

The sound of something metaphorical snapping could be hear and in less than a second the esteemed principal of the tradition-rich Tristain Academy of Magic cowered on the floor, begging for forgiveness as a heel was repeatedly and painfully introduced to his backside.

His feeble cries for absolution as well as his torment were suddenly stopped when the castle walls vibrated and the windows threatened to burst to smithereens.

The green haired woman and the white haired geezer first looked at the window, then at each other before sighing.

At least there the Vallière family provided the money for the repairs their youngest necessitated.

* * *

Inside a devastated classroom a diminutive pink haired girl was using a broom to clear the floor of a uniform layer of gray soot along with several wooden splinters that had once been a desk. Sitting on a table next to her was a more adult woman with long blonde hair observing the her.

Louise had been humiliated by her lack of success in all practical things magic once again and, to top it off, had been ordered to clean the room she destroyed without the help of servants or magic. Not that the later was a real limitation for her since it wouldn't really limit anything...

But it ticked her off somewhere that her familiar only sat around, watching her with that strangely curious expression, while she was doing all the work by herself. Shooting Milla a slightly angry look she asked the woman to help, her voice slightly strained from her forcing herself to remain polite.

"Would it hurt you to lend me a hand?"

"No, it wouldn't."

"Then why aren't you?" Louise asked, irritation slipping into her voice despite her best effort at suppressing it.

"I can't." Milla answered in the same steady voice she had used most of the time. Or really all of the time she didn't show any intense interest in something. The look on her face and her position atop the tilted desk, which was missing two of its legs because of Louise, was a clear sign of the mage being mocked.

"What do you mean you can't!?" With her voice rising into the realm of shouting near the end, the pink haired mage was only a hair's breadth away from bodily assaulting the woman that was intent on leading her on.

"I do not know how to. I have not once in my life touched a broom and rarely had to clean anything up at all."

Louise flinched a little at having her own inability thrown into her face once again. She was a noble. And the daughter of one of the ten most influential families in Halkeginia with close ties to royalty.

Were she any more capable, or rather less prone to explode classrooms, she wouldn't have laid hands on any type of cleaning equipment save wand polish her whole life either.

But as it stood, the petite mage had more practical experience returning soot filled rooms to a pristine condition than with the application of magic. And life seemed to love it to rub her ineptitude in her face as often and as hard as it could.

As Louise's rage burned brightly inside her, outside the confines of her mind her face had turned into an angry red, but she steadfast held back from snapping at her familiar. The rule of steel, ingrained into her from childhood helped her a great deal with not ruining their relationship right on the second day. Steel may glow bright in the blaze of rage and soften under the intense heat of anger, but it wouldn't break.

And that was all she needed right now. Stay her impulsive reactions until she could calm herself down with cold rationality.

She shouldn't attack someone that would be her partner for the foreseeable future for something her classmates did on a daily basis.

She shouldn't let envy encroach on their relationship for her being as privileged as more than half of her classmates were.

She should consider that maybe the slight she perceived wasn't meant as such from what was with most certainty a foreigner.

And if she completely believed her claims about being a spirit, a lord among them at that, using a broom to clean whatever mystic place she called home was frankly ridiculous.

So ridiculous in fact, that most of her anger had been drained and replaced with small chuckles. One might even call it laughter. But how much of this laughter was genuine mirth at this interpretation of Milla's words and how much of it self deprecating she didn't want to think about.

The blonde wrinkled her forehead in an attempt to understand why the girl in front of her had just now turned a surprisingly vibrant shade of red for a moment before starting to utter a quiet and somewhere hollow laughter.

Nobody she could remember had behaved similarly, the closest being Alvin at times, so she didn't know if there was some kind of deeper meaning behind these actions she should have been aware of, much less how she should have reacted to them. Which is why she handled the situation how she always handles situations like these: always facing them straight ahead. And this approach had served her well in the past, so she would do just that.

"For the first twenty years of my existence, Sylph and Undine always took care of any dust or stains around me. On my travels after that, cleaning never held a position of priority. We never stayed long at any place and those were either taverns or other people's houses. Erecting a tent on the hand is easily inside the realm of my abilities." Milla tried expanding on her earlier answer. With an afterthought she added:"Although at first I was surprised how much of a bother insects and plant life can be without Gnome and Sylph keeping them away."

"Slyph, Undine, Gnome?" Louise asked about the strangely named individuals her familiar mentioned. "Are they your caretakers or something?"

The Lord of Spirits hummed in thought for a moment before replying: "They certainly fulfilled that role at one point in time but I rather like to think of them as friends or family. Together with Ifrit they are the Four Great Spirits and have been with me from the moment I was born."

The pink haired mage was once again caught flatfooted at the notion of being taken care of by spirits. A truly ridiculous notion when compared to the factual evidence that spirits rarely even interacted with humans and the even rarer cases where said interaction could be considered friendly. The worst thing for the diminutive girl was that her stories still would make sense if she was a spirit herself. Unable to disprove the woman's outrageous claims due to flaws in her story she would have to-

'Wait! Didn't she just say something contradictory?'

"Ha! How could they possibly take care of you from when you were born if you're supposed to be their lord? Who made them if not you and why are you their lord if you didn't create them?"

Now she had the blonde. Constricted in a web of her own blatant lies she would have to answer her seriously now about who she was. Finally would Louise gain the leverage in their relationship as was only proper.

But contrary to her expectations, Milla didn't look cornered or frightened or anything else she'd thought appropriate for an unraveled liar. She only crumpled her eyebrows in concentration for a moment before explaining her situation.

"You are correct. I didn't create the four spirits. The one holding the title of Maxwell before me did. He also created me and ordered the Four to take care of me."

"The one before you?" Louise asked intrigued. Spirits were as immortal as you could get. What must have happened for Milla to have taken on his title. And what did she mean with 'title of Maxwell' anyway?

"The Maxwell before you? What happened?"

"Yes, the original Maxwell, one of the three strongest spirits along with Chronos and Origin.

As for how I succeeded him, I need to go quite a bit back in time.

Among Chronos who disliked humans and Origin who was neutral towards them, he was fond of humans and worked to preserve the coexistence of humans and spirits. Which worked well for hundreds of years.

Until the development of devices that destroyed spirits in return for power which forced him to part the world, taking those able of contracting with spirits, those who can use Spirit Artes, with him into a barrier that would protect its inhabitants of the effect of those devices.

As a result the world inside the barrier, Rieze-Maxia flourished with an abundance of mana, creating unique landscapes of enormous beauty. The outside world, Elympios on the other hand was slowly, over the span of more than a millennium bled dry of any remaining mana and spirits, eroding the land and decimating its fauna and flora. By the point that some Elympians recognized this problem, their society had become to reliant on the spirit killing devices to stop using them.

Driven by their need of mana to sustain their dying world, the Elympian government planned an invasion into Rieze-Maxia. I was made by Maxwell, believing myself to be him, to protect Rieze-Maxia from the invaders with the help of the Four Great Spirits. During my quest the Four got sealed away, stripping me of most of my power. The events following that brought my own past as well as the existence of Elympios to light. In the end I and my comrades faced Maxwell over differing ideals. He was content with letting the world outside the barrier perish. I viewed the purpose of the role of Maxwell, the protector of both spirits and humans, to include all humans, and that if there was a way to save Elympios as well as Rieze-Maxia, that one should be taken. In the end we were able to convince him and he entrusted the world to me as the new Maxwell."

"Rieze-Maxia? Elympios? Spirit Artes?" The lengthy yet imprecise answer only partially satisfied her and served to throw up a plethora of new questions. Some Louise already feared would cause her all kinds of headaches.

"Rieze-Maxia and Elympios are two parts of the same world. A different world from this one here."

"Different... world?" the pink haired girl asked in a quiet voice. She already knew that her Familiar wasn't normal, but to come from a different world? Simply the existence of such a thing was hard for the mage to imagine.

"Yes, quite so in fact. All alternate worlds I had visited before were only slightly deviated from my home dimension. This world is very different. The easiest example would be your two moons. Rieze-Maxia has only one."

Changing her position, Milla nodded to herself before continuing.

"As for Spirit Artes, we call the exchange of mana with spirits in return for an action performed by them Spirit Artes. Here, you apparently call it magic."

"Magic? Exchange of mana with spirits? But magic is something that works due to the Founder Brimir's grace. Spirits aren't involved in any of our magic here!" While the practical aspects of magic eluded her, Louise could be said to be one of the best on the field of theory inside the academy, including teachers. And no human magic she was aware of used spirits at any point. Not with how fickle or volatile and above understanding most of the few known spirits were.

"But what you and your teacher earlier did was without a doubt the manipulation of lesser spirits."

"Lesser spirits?" There existed a ranking among spirits? All books she had read on the topic only focused on one or two spirits at most. To few of them were known to deduce some kind of hierarchy. Not to mention that every observed spirit seemed completely independent.

"Hmm... How to best explain them?" The blonde mused while scrunching her forehead in thought. Seemingly coming to some sort of conclusion, she started explaining. "In general, Spirits can be divided in two categories. There are the greater spirits like for example me or the Four Great spirits. We can form a body from our element to manifest in the real world, where we currently are, and express ourselves on this side. Lesser spirits on the other hand don't have the necessary power for that. They only have a manifestation on the spirit realm and their interaction with the real world is more of an unconscious thing."

"Spirit realm? Could you please stop explaining things by throwing in even more new things?" Louise complained without fire behind her words. Every answer she got just made the list of questions longer, a vicious circle of new answers and even more questions.

"Okay. So, there are lesser spirits." Louise nodded.

"If you speak your incantations, you make a contract with them. You offer your mana and they do the specified task for you." Louise nodded again before asking.

"So this mana is your term for Willpower?"

"A purely psychological term like willpower blurs its nature. Mana is a metaphysical substance produced in an organ called mana lobe. While using Spirit Artes, and thus expending mana, puts a strain similar to exhaustion on the mental state of a user, those without a mana lobe can't use Spirit Artes, regardless of their mental fortitude."

'But that would mean that all that differs between Nobles and Commoners is the existence of an organ. If this is true, it could shake the foundations of our society.' the mage thought, stumbling over the attempt to match her Familiar's explanation with her own knowledge. Ignorant of her inner workings, the Lord of Spirits continued.

"The incantation of your spells lays down the terms for a contract with the spirits which is then fulfilled if both sides can provide their parts. To speak in your terms, if you have enough willpower and ask the right kind of spirit the magic will work.

For example, your teacher called on lesser earth spirits earlier for the transformation of one type of earth into a different one and offered enough mana for them to act upon that request."

Not finding a glaring flaw in her Familiar's theory about the inner workings of magic frustrated and intrigues Louise to equal parts. On one side, her own lack of knowledge as well as the religious implications posed a problem. On the other hand side, the blonde's explanation provided an unprecedented theory for how magic actually did what it did and provided a factual criterion for nobility.

But more than either of those, the woman's insight into the how and why of magic made her hope that Milla Maxwell, the irregular Familiar she had summoned, could be able to help her overcome her own ineptitude at using magic, a task neither several private tutors before it nor the most prestigious academy for magic inside Tristain's borders itself had accomplished.

Unable to keep a tone of neediness and hope out of her voice, Louise asked:

"And what did I do earlier?"

Interrupted before she could proceed with her explanation Milla had to stop for a little moment where she glanced perplexed at her summoner. Closing her eyes, she tipped her forehead in thought before replying.

"You did recite the incantation almost identical to your teacher and offered enough mana. Quite more than enough actually. But in contrary to your teacher, you didn't call for earth spirits but for spirits of void. Since there are very very few lesser spirits of void and the instructions of the contract were incompatible with them they released the overabundance of mana you concentrated into the pebbles, releasing a pulse of force and a cloud of quickly dissipating condensed mana."

"V-V-Void? The lost element of the Founder? But that's not possible! That's borderline heresy!" Louise whispered forcefully into Milla's ear which she had pulled into a conservative crouch along with the rest of the blonde's body.

Said blonde only looked at the pink haired girl in surprise before reaffirming her prior statement in a voice filled with conviction.

"Your call unmistakeably reached into Origin's domain of the void. But without a fitting incantation it apparently couldn't reach him or instruct the lesser spirits to manifest any meaningful effect."

"But nobody could wield the Void since the Founder!"

"It actually impressed me too. Never before have I seen anyone trying to reach for Origin's power to use Spirit Artes. His is not a domain as readily available or malleable as those of the Four. But it would explain how you could call me to your side over the gap between worlds without needing a sacrifice."

Louise looked truly conflicted, torn between incredulity and happiness over the first questionable but possible reason for her constant failures.

"No word of this to anyone." she said in monotone.

"Louise?"

"I mean it, Milla." she hoped that using her name would lend more weight to her words. "Even if what you say is correct, spreading word about it without proof besides your word for it can socially ruin me, land me in an asylum or in the truly worst case bring down the inquisition on my head. So please, don't go around spreading that."

"I understand." the blonde answered instantly, causing Louise to look surprised at her. "I have come her to protect you. Causing trouble when I've been told how to avoid it is not in my interest."

The sincerity and loyalty of her Familiar effortlessly displayed almost made her shed a tear, but she could reign her emotions in before such a thing happened. Pushing down on her sentimentality she flung a strand of hair of of her face and straightened up from their conspiratorial crouch. Clearing her throat, she addressed the blonde with a faint blush on her face.

"Anyway, don't talk about things like that in places where we can be overheard. I'll show you how to use a broom, so just clean up the remaining... splinters." While giving her new order she had noticed that the soot had already dissipated, a fact her Familiar had earlier mentioned but hadn't registered in her conscious mind.

"Understood." the Lord of Spirits simply answered, looking expectantly at her. Teaching an eager self-proclaimed spirit how to clean a room was one thing she never imagined would happen to her.

* * *

Freeing a pair of sizable mammaries from their position, squished against a classroom door, a red head chuckled in a low voice.

"I've heard something nice."

Her blue haired companion just flipped her book shut and started moving down the corridor. The well endowed red head quickly followed after her.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: And so the story continues. Like watching a 100m sprint at the annual glacier sports meet.

Chapter 03: Double or Nothing

"Mmmmh" Milla contently hummed. "This cake is really good, Louise." Throwing proper decorum aside, the blonde cleaned away a smudge of cream from her face using her finger before licking said appendage clean. How she still managed to remain dignified while doing it was a mystery to the pink haired mage.

"Of course it is. A part of them was ordered at a shop in the capital that also supplies the castle. The local cooks are first class too and don't want to be shown up either, so they try to be better than each other. But the academy only orders cakes from outside for special occasions like this, and apparently the staff here can only give it their all when they are competing, so it is important to savor days like this. On the other hand, the scarcity makes the cake taste even better."

Louise had gained some knowledge in this direction as she had acquired quite a sweet tooth during her stay at the academy. Sugar helped drown all the dark feelings of despair and muddling her mind with strong spirits would be throwing the last thing she had going for her out of the window. Fortunately, her growth was as stunted in the horizontal dimension as it was in the vertical.

And having someone to share with in discussing the cuisine, social contact about a topic that wasn't a sore one for her, made her quietly happy. Not that the sweet flavor didn't help that feeling along.

"But still..."the blonde interrupted her idle thoughts."The image of Marteau creating delicate decorations is strange yet thoroughly amusing."

She couldn't suppress a small chuckle at that. The gruff cook was known by almost everyone that had visited the kitchens for a nighttime snack before. Although his attitude towards nobility was on the rude side, his skills ensured that he would be missed and he was an old hand at tip toeing the line of what he could get away with and what not. Besides the point that angering your cook too much was always a good way to choke on a poisoned meal. Commoners too had some modicum of pride in their work after all, and why should they react more civilized to being slighted than the more refined nobles?

Sipping her tea, Louise watched as her Familiar waved a black haired maid over to their position, no doubt eager to coax the servant to bring her more of the delicacies. Not that the youngest Vallière was against another piece of cake herself. That the otherworldly beauty garnered glances from the other students was already expected if one extrapolated the trend of the last few days.

Strangely enough, nobody had risen to the "challenge" so to say. Not even Guiche, infamous for tying to woo any woman somewhere around his age range without warts, tried his hand at her Familiar. On the other hand, her fellow students seemed mesmerized by the blonde to some degree which resulted in them having less time to make fun of her. Good thing in her book.

But it's not as if she couldn't somewhat understand their feelings. Milla Maxwell reminded her of how she imagined an ancient but benevolent rhyme dragon of legend. A gaze that seemed to penetrate your soul, judging it on a scale beyond your comprehension. It made you and your problems feel insignificant in the great scheme of things. And yet it held a fond quality -like watching a small bird that settled on your finger- that, strange as it may sound, prevented it from appearing condescending.

All in all Louise thought that she had barely seen past the nostrils, catching a glimpse of the beast's eyes. The rest of its body hidden comfortably in the dark cave of the pink mage's ignorance. And she had no doubt, that claws and a spiked tail, figuratively speaking, were somewhere in there, too.

Knowing that something like that had decided to help her out reassured Louise as enormously as it frightened her.

"That boy should take better care with how he handles his lovers." Taken from her musings, the pink haired mage noticed that her Familiar had apparently used her lapse of attention to study the other students. A glance in the direction Milla faced told Louise all she needed to know. Guiche with roughly hand-shaped red marks on his face and two girls stomping away from his general direction was quite indicative of what had transpired.

"Human life is a fleeting thing. And affection cut short before fruition can leave behind never healing wounds."

"That sounds like you experienced something similar."

"One of my friends in the past behaved similarly. Conflicting responsibilities and loyalties lead to him having to suffer through the death of his lover.

And nobody can guarantee that your blonde classmate won't end up entangled in the strings of fate in a similar fashion."

Louise could only nod silently. Many of her fellow young nobles had no connection to the idea of their own mortality at all. They were invincible mages with their power only growing with each year. Life would continue as monotone and exciting as always and dieing was something the old, sick, and weak people did.

The pink haired mage had contemplated life itself and her own feeble existence on many a dark day of her failures. Other than herself she -grudgingly- thought that Kirche was one of the most levelheaded students along with maybe -she couldn't quite penetrate her ever present veil of indifference- the silent and unreadable Tabitha. Whereas Louise herself deliberated on what impact her life had on others, the big-breasted Germanian indulged in every kind of pleasure she could get away with, filling her limited time on this earth with it.

Most others just fooled around aimlessly, like Guiche, enjoying their life while they shouldered no burden.

Looking at the blonde sitting across the table, who was watching the dejected young man try to leave the area without causing the snickering of the surrounding students to escalate, Louise questioned her inaction.

"Why don't you tell him then? How he can end up if he continues."

"I exist to watch over human and spirit alike, ensuring their coexistence and general prosperity. Interfering in their personal matters of my own volition, as long as it doesn't conflict these two things, is not my task and I try to avoid it whenever possible.

A solution given or forced on you might not lead to the future you want to reach. There is worth in the struggle needed to achieve your goals and even scars that will never heal are important in shaping a person.

If I am asked for help on the other hand, like in your case, I will try to do my best to save them from their plight."

Holding no interest in affecting human society, yet showing a great deal curiosity for it. Louise just couldn't seem to get her mind around how her Familiar's seemed to work.

"Excuse me please, Miss Vallière, Miss Maxwell, here is the chocolate cake you ordered."

The only thing Louise could say with absolute certainty about her familiar was that the woman's stomach was a vast, gaping abyss of emptiness.

* * *

"Where are we going, Louise?" Milla asked, trailing behind her summoner through a stone corridor she hadn't explored yet.

The pink haired girl didn't slow her stride or turn around, but answered her Familiar in a friendly tone. "We're going to the principal's office. I want to go to the capital, Tristainia tomorrow, and I'm supposed ask the principal for permission." Louise slowed down a bit and slightly shook her head in exasperation. "It's actually more often then not a formality, informing the principal's secretary to relieve them from their responsibility of the student's well being, than a real request. I never heard of someone getting rejected and since there is no real punishment for not doing it some people barely do so at all." Her cape fluttered slightly as she shrugged. "A typical case of it not being a problem unless something serious happens to a student."

"Interesting. So I take it we are going on a journey tomorrow? Is it far to the city of Tristainia?"

"Not really. By foot it would take quite a while, but I can arrange two horses of the academy for our use. On horseback one trip takes around three hours, so we can easily return by nightfall if we depart here early in the morning."

"So it is only a day trip then?"

"Yes, it will save us the trouble and cost of finding an inn and we're only going for some-

Ahh, here we are."

After the pair had ascended several flights of stairs Louise had stopped in front of a large oaken door decorated with brass. The pink haired mage knocked on the door and waited for the permission to enter upon which she pushed open the door.

"Pardon my intrusion, Principal, Miss Longueville."

"Ohh, Miss Vallière, what brings you here today?" Old Osmond asked in a grandfatherly manner from his place, seated behind a big desk cluttered with pieces of paper and several objects of indiscernible purpose.

"I would like to venture to the capital tomorrow and have come to ask your permission."

"The capital? No problem, Miss Vallière, your excursion will be marked down as granted." Permission was given without asking any further details, as was usual. The bearded mage's gaze then inched from the pink haired girl to her blonde companion. "And who might this beautiful lady be? I fear we have not been introduced yet."

"This is Milla Maxwell, the Familiar I summoned, Old Osmond."

"Hoo~." His hand stroked his gray beard as he eyed Milla. "A human Familiar is not something you see often. Even one as old and brittle as me has never seen one or heard tales of one aside from the legendary Familiars of the Founder. Even at this age the world is still full of surprises. Ho ho ho~"

If the old man had noticed Louise stiffening up uncomfortably at his mention of the Founder he didn't show it in any way. The sinking feeling in her stomach got better and worse as her Familiar spoke up.

"Greetings Old Osmond. As Louise already said, my name is Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits. Being a Spirit myself, I have to correct your statement about me being human."

Louise could practically feel the pity in the look her Familiar got from Miss Longueville. It was one you'd give a small commoner kid claiming to become king one day and meaning it. She must have thought her Familiar was touched in the head. Caught up in her shame, the pink haired girl didn't notice the slightly quirked eyebrow of the most experienced mage in the room.

"You are certainly equipped with a bewitching and otherworldly beauty to fit that title, Miss Maxwell." the old man said, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively while his eyes roamed up and down her body. That she didn't change her posture from her current state, not hiding any of her assets from him, was certainly a welcome feast for the principal.

"That along with lingering affection was the reason my predecessor created me this way. I do have to say that this body certainly has its uses." Milla said while sliding her hand down the front of her body. Old Osmond definitively liked what said movement did to the well endowed and form-fittingly clothed woman's body.

Feeling a stern glare emanating from emerald eyes pierce into his side, he coughed into his hand once and decided to change the topic.

"But the capital, hooo~" the wise mage stroked his beard as his eyes seemed to fix on some far away horizon. "A servant told me of a wonderful tavern in the capital with very nice serving girls wearing nice and skimpy outfitsssssss-"

"Old Osmond. It would be quite inappropriate to talk of such things in front of a student, wouldn't it?" Miss Longueville asked in a voice so sweet it was almost literally dripping with honey. Or poison. During the short conversation, the green haired secretary had moved from her desk on the side of the room to stand behind the principal. Whose ear she was pulling right now.

"Ahh. It hurts. Please. Stop~!" the old man feebly resisted.

A scene such as this might have made a student look strangely at the principal of their very much elite school if it weren't for the fact that such a scene had become something of a common byplay since the secretary had been hired. And since the principal was already known among the student body as an old lecher, nobody questioned why he didn't protest being manhandled by his young and very much attractive coworker.

In short, just another normal day in the Tristain Academy of Magic and the world was good.

Louise proceeded to excuse herself and her Familiar, leaving the two adults to their squabbling.

* * *

If Milla had to compare Tristainia to other big cities she knew, it would be Sharilton. Both shared a lively population mingling around, vendors lining the stone paved streets. Not having a windmill was a big esthetic minus for Tristainia though.

The capital of Tristain was, in her opinion, a nice town although it lacked the impressive ambiance of Fenmont's lights in the perpetual night, Kanbalar's sheer intensity or Trigleph's steel gray skyline. From what she could see of the castle, it seemed closer to the one in Kanbalar than its counterpart in Fenmont.

But Louise pulled her in the almost completely opposite direction, so any further analysis would have to wait. As would her tasting tour through all the local stands selling things for take away.

A pity.

"Where are we going Louise?" asked the blond woman being pulled along by her right hand.

"We are looking for a deterrent for you." the pink haired girl answered while scanning the shop signs along the road, looking for a specific one.

"A deterrent?"

"No matter whether you're the Lord of Spirits or not, you look like a beautiful young woman. Since we've come here how many men have already ogled you and would have gotten more physical if given the chance? A dozen at least. You need something to keep those kinds of people away from yourself and by extension me.

Getting swarmed by lechers every time I set foot outside the academy is something I can do without."

Screeching to a halt from their almost run, Louise then turned to the shop they had stopped in front of. "And what is better to deter people from doing something stupid than the threat of violence?"

The dingy shop had two small and dirty windows, and the sign depicting a sword and a shield gave off a squeak every time it swung back and forth. Frankly, it was more than a bit suspicious.

Pushing the door open, the mage continued.

"So we're here to buy a sword for you."

"But I already have a sword, Louise."

Kirche who, with the help of an insistently conscripted Tabitha, had shadowed the pair since they left the academy would have payed a small fortune to capture the face of her favorite mercurial self declared nemesis on canvas.

"You... Wha...? Where!?"

To the astonishment of Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and the sleazy, red nosed shopkeeper who went ignored for the moment, Milla pulled a sword from her right hip, a spot where nothing had been before. It was a strangely shaped double edged, one-handed sword, lacking a sharp point in favor of a small third edge at the top. The blade itself had a red finish with a pattern of wings polished blank at the tip and just above the crossguard.

"Actually, this is just one of many swords I own." she said while sliding her gloved index finger along the length of the blade's flat side. "I collected quite a couple of them on my travels, but this is one of my favorites."

"Where did you pull that from?" Louise asked while still looking at the sword in disbelief.

The blonde pulled out a glowing orb surrounded by some sort of metallic harness from somewhere in her almost skintight outfit and held it out for Louise to see. The orb was shining with all colors of the rainbow and seemed to leak some kind of visible aura.

"This is an Allium Orb, it helps you develop martial skills, allows you to link with comrades in battle, and also serves as a storage for a plethora of items, especially weaponry and armors." Louise's Familiar finished with a smile.

The pink haired mage warily eyed the sphere giving off eldritch lights before gently taking the offered objects into her own hands.

"Every Allium Orb contains the experiences of their previous wielders and uses them to create a skill set for the current user. The one you're holding right now belonged to an old companion of mine."

"This little thing can do all that?" Louise asked sceptically despite the previous demonstration. "And you have more of these?"

"Yes, the Allium Orbs are a very important tool for travelers where I'm from and were a fairly common artifact. I collected the ones my comrades had used after they or their descendants didn't have any further use for them."

An artifact that could somehow help you become better in fighting and store things Founder knows where was something neither Louise nor the magically eavesdropping duo of mages had ever heard of before. And what her Familiar had meant when she talked about linking with someone was a total mystery to all of them as well.

Turning to the blonde, Louise noticed that the woman had moved while she was staring at the sphere in her hand and was now looking around the shop, sifting through the merchandise while the shopkeeper kept a keen eye on her.

"What are you doing?" the petite girl asked her Familiar as said individual was rummaging through a barrel full of rusted implements of murder.

"I am looking for a sword." the blonde continued her search without a pause.

"But you said you already have one, and showed me. If you just wear that one our business here is over." This comment made the rotund man behind his counter frown as he feared the loss of a potential customer. But even before he could make a sales pitch, Milla refuted the logic of her Master.

"It would be a shame to leave empty handed after we traveled this far. And another good sword can never really hurt. Versatility is important. Oh, what is this?"

With a loud rattling of steel, Milla pulled out an old and rusty sword from the barrel with obviously worn down or low quality weapons. A rusty, straight, single edged sword, with a strange cross guard and a mostly torn strip of white cloth wrapped around the hilt.

"Interesting."

"Huh? Isn't that just an old and worn down sword?" Louise asked, unknowingly and unintentionally pulled into the blonde's pace again.

"It certainly is old, but the wear is only superficial. Clean and polish it a little and it will be like new. Also, it is the first weapon I've seen to have received the blessing of Origin's power. A rare find."

The mage grew rigid instantly at that comment, the meaning of her Familiar's words as clear as they were shocking. The existence her Familiar had called Origin had been a great spirit with control of the void according to the blonde. If her words about everything so far remained true, a sword imbued with the power of void had to be an artifact related to the Founder Brimir in some way or form.

For such a thing to just randomly appear in front of her right after her strange Familiar appeared and came to the conclusion that she wielded the sacred Void was just too much of a coincidence. Louise was tempted to just deny the words of her Familiar and the sword's properties as lies, but the fact that she had come to same conclusion about herself at one point before denying it as both wishful thinking and borderline blasphemous stopped her from doing so. That the sword then began to display obviously magical properties helped.

"You have a good eye for swords, young lady. Care to polish my blade till it's shiny again?" the sword asked with a metallic voice while its strange crossguard moved in facsimile of a mouth.

"A talking sword? That's something new too."

"If you want him, that's 50 ecu. That thing's been annoying my customers for too long now." the shopkeeper grumbled.

"It seems you are not very well liked." observed the blond woman while scrutinizing the sword in her hand.

"He's just cross that I've told people when he tried to sell them useless junk." it replied in its monotone voice.

"Shut up, Derflinger!" the angered shopkeeper yelled while comically waving his fist at the sword in attempt at intimidation. Against a sword. Louise could only shake her head at the situation.

"I like it Louise, I think I will buy it."

The merchant whose face had taken on a shade of red similar to his bulbous nose then turned to the person who obviously was in control of the purse and offered her an even bigger discount. "If you take him with you right know I'll make it 25 gold. Just get this business obstacle as far away from my shop as possible."

25 gold was very well inside the realm of what Louise was willing to spend. Rather, it was alarmingly cheap. So little in fact that simply the material cost of a good sword could easily surpass it.

If the shopkeeper hadn't found the sword, Derflinger, in the trash he would certainly lose money selling it at 25 gold. But if the way it made him lose his temper in front of a customer selling it with any sort of profit was probably a good trade for him.

"Will this be enough?" Milla asked the man with her hand stretched out in front of her holding a couple of foreign looking coins Louise had never seen before. She hadn't seen her Familiar carry about any sort of purse but with the revelation of that strange artifact of hers, the pink haired girl guessed it could just as well serve as a purse if it could store entire swords.

"Haven't seen that kind coin anywhere before, miss. You from somewhere beyond the Rub Al'Khali?" the man said while eying the coins. He then held his opened hand under Milla's. "I'll need to check them first if you want to pay me with them."

The blonde dropped the gald coins onto the merchant's greasy palm who then pulled out small scales from beneath his counter. He placed all but one of the coins on the counter before critically analyzing the one still between his fingers. He scratches, bent, and weighed the coin with a certain amount of familiarity that made Louise believe that the man probably had to deal with shady business quite often and had to know how to accost the value of a coin or rather the authenticity of one.

"Hmm, this should be enough. It's probably worth a little bit more than 25 gold but I'll have to turn these into usable money myself so if you consider it an exchange fee I'm willing to sell you that nuisance for this." the shopkeeper offered after finishing his examination.

"Gladly." responded Milla before turning to her companion. "Do you also want something Louise?"

"I'm fine. Let's go if you're finished." the girl replied solemnly and followed the blonde out of the shop after the woman had said exchanged farewells with the man behind the counter.

The pink haired girl had originally intended for the sword to also serve the purpose of being a gift to make her Familiar feel even just a little bit indebted to her so their relationship could develop into something Louise had experience dealing with. But not only did this plan fail, the diminutive mage also learned that her Familiar possessed an unknown amount of weaponry, wealth and maybe, no, probably didn't need her to survive and lead a comfortable life.

She just simply couldn't get into her head why the blonde woman stayed with her, and this uncertainty gnawed at her from the inside, souring her mood as she now followed the older women through the streets.

* * *

"Just much money do you have stashed away inside that ball?" Louise asked her Familiar with an exasperated voice. After the blonde had haggled with the third food vendor about buying some of his produce with her foreign money the mage had directed her to an exchange office where she now unloaded a small heap of coins that visibly troubled the clerk.

"Without the 10'000 gald on the table I still have 32'296'198 gald stored away." the woman said after putting her index finger to her chin and tilting her head slightly in thought.

The silence inside the store was palpable for a moment before Louise's jaw dropped down unintentionally. She fared better than the sickly looking clerk who appeared to slip into a catatonic state. In their hiding place Tabitha had to help Kirche not suffocate on the meat skewer she had earlier procured.

"32 million? You exchanged them at roughly 10 to 1 gold which means 3.2 million gold? Ha. Haha. Ahahahaha-!" the pink haired mage exclaimed before slipping into a deranged chuckle. And who could blame her? That amount was so ridiculous it wasn't even funny anymore. Forget buying a mansion, you could buy your way into royalty with that much money, directly in the case of Germania.

At that moment, Louise decided to stop caring. The sensible approach to life hadn't helped her with her magic and it didn't help her now in comprehending the absurdity before her, so why should her rational fears be more likely than absurd thoughts such as herself turning into a wandering swordsman after being banished from the academy or rising to be an evil overlord bringing a reign of terror to Halkeginia?

Her first step in that direction would be to stop overthinking and take everything more at face value.

"How did you get that much money?"

The blonde smiled beautifully as if remembering something amusing before replying.

"A friend of mine was once riddled with an almost insurmountable debt he wouldn't be able to pay back in several lifetimes with honest work. So he turned to gambling and I tired it out too back then. It worked out quite well as we cleared the debt in weeks with a big surplus." Milla crinkled her forehead in thought and continued. "I still wonder how that gambler possessed that much money even though he seemed to spend all of his time in that tavern."

The thought that such an absurd amount of money changed hands in what sounded like a shady back alley den brought a smile to Louise's face. The story was just too absurd for her to take the implications serious anymore.

After her Familiar had exchanged her currency, the pink-haired mage and the blonde Lord of Spirits continued their aimless tour through Tristainia, the former with a strangely lightened heart now sampling commoner food alongside with the later.

* * *

Tabitha had roughly returned an unresponsive Kirche to consciousness with a blast of water. Both had been astonished by the amount of cash the blonde woman pulled out of thin air and thoroughly shocked by the amount she proclaimed to possess.

After drying herself with a small flame, Kirche dragged her companion along as she tried to reacquire the track of her prey and got promptly rewarded after turning around the first corner. Louise and Milla hadn't gotten far and were now busy eating some sort of skewered meat, the redhead's rival stuffing herself with a relaxed expression on her face.

The fiery Germanian had rarely seen the other girl this way and never when the petite mage thought someone was around to witness it. This trip already proved interesting enough to be worth the effort and promised to get even better.

* * *

"Ahh..." the bronze skinned beauty sighed. "...I'm bored~"

The duo of red and blue had been tailing pink and blonde through the capital's streets for more than two hours now and the only thing that amused Kirche was how much food could fit into a girl as thin as a twig. Tabitha didn't seem to mind all that much, occupying herself with a novel she had brought along for the most part, but the redhead just wasn't made for tedious and boring work.

"Let's stop it here, Tabitha." Kirche addressed her friend. "Any more of this and I'm going to set something on fire only to have something interesting happen."

Without uttering a word or taking her eyes off of her book, the girl with the big staff rose from their hiding place, walking off towards the city gates so they could board Sylphid without causing a commotion. The Germanian mage followed her friend while looking around the stalls they passed in silent observation, fully aware that her companion was neither really adept at small talk or enjoyed it.

* * *

"It got dark quite quickly." Milla noted. She and Louise were currently riding through a patch of forest on the road connecting the academy and the capital of Tristain with a luminescent orb of magic lazily floating in front of their horses, illuminating the path. The small Spirit Arte was one of the blonde's favorites as it needed practically no mana, was versatile in its use and aesthetically pleasing, winning it a permanent spot in her list of post-battle victory festivities. It also had sentimental value since Rowen used to employ it in concert with her after they beat an enemy in a particularly elegant fashion, demonstrating how well they could synchronize their moves in and out of battle.

Both women had had lost track of the time while enjoying the hustle of the city around them with only the daylight beginning to wane making them realize their predicament. Since it might have caused an annoying commotion if they had returned tomorrow and since Louise would miss her classes, she and Milla decided to ride back even though they'd have to travel after nightfall. The mage had opted for torches to grant them some measure of vision on the dark roads, an idea that had been quickly discarded in favor of her Familiar's spell after she had displayed it.

Louise had been fascinated by the freely moving light source, unable to conclude which element was employed in the inner workings of this spell which had initiated a detailed explanation by her Familiar. The older woman had begun by listing of the elements known to the petite mage, beginning with Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind while somewhat sidelining the Void. She named what she called Great Spirit for every element, brushing over their general traits and specialties.

Then came the new elements that were part unfamiliar and part categorized differently. Ice the pink haired girl knew to be a combination born from water and wind while Lightening was located in the higher levels of triangle and square wind mages. But Light and Darkness on the other hand were entirely foreign concepts to her, and by extension, Halkeginia's view on magic. Neither being related to good or evil as she had instinctively thought in the first moment didn't make the concept easier to grasp.

Healing magic not falling under any element but being somewhat related to Light magic had only worsened Louise's hardship at understanding her Familiar's explanations and how they related to magic as it was practiced and thought throughout Halkeginia.

Their discussion thankfully filled a lot of their time on horseback with meaningful distraction from the moderate speed the surrounding darkness forced upon them. Letting their horses gallop through the night was just asking for them to fall due to an unseen hole in the ground or a root sticking up from the ground. Louise also stopped Milla from creating enough of the luminous orbs since even just the one she had brought into existence seemed to make the equines somewhat skittish.

Louise only looked confused for a moment when her Familiar suddenly stopped her horse as only moments later movement could be heard in the surrounding bushes. Something or someone had sneaked up on them which usually could only mean bad things in a dark forest at night.

True to her intuition, a pack of wolves introduced themselves with a duo of them lunging forward in hope of getting their horses. Before the mage's hand had even reached the pocket containing her wand, Milla had leaped from her mount and drawn the sword she had presented earlier in the day.

What happened next was to fast for Louise's eyes to catch. In an instant a bright line of light zigzagged between the attacking canines with her companion at its origin and endpoint. The two wolves were deflected from their trajectory and hit the ground a few meters away from them, cleanly bisected from muzzle to tail. In comparison, she couldn't make out a single drop of blood on either her Familiar or said woman's sword.

A silent confrontation continued between the rest of the pack still hidden in the surrounding greenery and the blonde that had just effortlessly dispatched two of their members until it was broken by the rustling of leaves gradually getting fainter.

By now, Louise had also gotten a hold of her wand and had pointed it in the general direction of the forest. The pink haired girl could only relax when her Familiar dropped down onto her horse from standing on top of it, an athletic feat Louise noticed as quite remarkable.

"The monsters around here sure are weak. I thought they'd survive more than one hit. And why didn't the other monsters attack too?" the blonde mused before putting back her sword.

Shedding the fear of death alongside the adrenaline rushing through her, Louise felt slightly comforted by her Familiar's antics, finding them more endearing than annoying by now. Somehow the woman's unfazed attitude took away the impending doom she had felt in so many situations, blasting through it as if it were wet paper.

While she had initially believed that a Familiar was a somewhat more useful pet as well as a status symbol, she now understood why they were often termed as lifelong companions. Now she thought that they were the closest mirror for a noble, a mirror you couldn't abandon, that wouldn't abandon you, and thus could reflect back your deepest inner darkness without fear of rejection on either side.

"We should hurry back to the academy before they come back or we meet something less pleasant, like bandits." Louise pointed out, nudging the blonde to proceed since it was her magic illuminating the nightly forest.

* * *

There had no big commotion upon their return to the academy, the headmaster probably not sweating the issue of their return as there were quite a few students who would stay away for the night, presumably after having charmed or bribed a gullible young woman, or man, to spend a passionate night free of consequences with them. And Old Osmond often proclaimed that being adventurous and making "conquests" was the quintessence of youth, so he turned a blind eye to such occasions more often than not.

The only ones who cared about their return were the stable master who was happy to be able to turn in for the night after they had returned their horses, and the maid Louise had instructed to bring some hot water to her room. She could only shake her head in disbelief when Milla had ordered a small snack to be brought up with the water.

How could she still eat after today's feats of gluttony was an utter mystery.

Today, after rinsing the dirt and exhaustion of the long ride from herself, Louise was welcomed by the realm of sleep with a vague and fuzzy feeling of content settling down in her small body.


End file.
